Goals from Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio saw Real Madrid take another huge step towards the title as Los Blancos beat Alaves 2-0 on Friday night to move four points clear of Barcelona with three rounds remaining in LaLiga.

After winning their last two fixtures thanks to Sergio Ramos penalties, Zinedine Zidane’s side were handed another spot-kick in this match as Ferland Mendy was brought down just inside the box by Ximo Navarro after 10 minutes.

With Ramos suspended for this one and watching on from the sidelines, Benzema stepped up to beat Roberto Jimenez with a low shot to net his 18th league goal of the season.

Alaves, playing their first game under new coach Juan Ramon Lopez Muniz, had earlier missed an excellent double chance through Joselu and Lucas Perez as a header hit the crossbar and a follow-up effort was cleared off the line by Raphael Varane.

There was also a good run and shot from Oliver Burke, who beat Eder Militao with some super skill on the left in the first half before setting up Joselu and also cut in and tested Thibaut Courtois on another occasion.

But Madrid were largely on top after their goal and came close to a second through Benzema, Asensio and also Rodrygo.

Benzema went down with a knock late in the first half and received treatment on the pitch as his team-mates went into the dressing room.

The French forward was back out after the break, though, and set up Asensio for Los Blancos’ second goal as he ran onto a pass from midfield and squared unselfishly for his team-mate to tap home.

VAR gave the goal and replays showed that Benzema was onside, even though he had initially been flagged off by the assistant.

Courtois made a good save to deny Joselu late on, but the second goal killed off Alaves’ hopes and Roberto made some good stops to deny Rodrygo, Asensio and substitute Isco in the final stages.

Benzema went off as Eden Hazard made his return in the closing stages and the striker was holding his leg after suffering what could be a muscle problem.

Madrid move closer to the title as they go four points clear with just three rounds left. Alaves are now just three points above the drop zone with three fixtures left and still very much in danger.

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